The Evolution of Touch

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—Back when Apple introduced the standard touch screen iteration with the first iPhone, it was groundbreaking. Five years later, the touch screen gets a welcome software upgrade to enhance its functionality.

Last year, a designer named Chris Harrison created software that was able to recognize different kinds of taps-fingernail, finger, knuckles. Building on that platform, Harrison has now evolved the UI and created a spin off product that has been dubbed FingerSense.

Though touchscreens were an innovation for all tech users, the basic one tap touch screens overlook the fact that fingers have many modes, such as flicking, rubbing, knocking, and grasping. Though the last half of that sentence sounded like an excerpt from 50 Shades of Grey, capping the ceiling of touch screens to simple one finger recognition is limiting the possibilities of the applications we can create, and handicapping the swiftness to which we they can be more effective.

FingerSense does require some extra hardware for it to be applicable to your smartphone or tablet, meaning you can’t just download the app and evolve your phone immediately, but I’m excited to get my hands on this when it does go to production. Though there will surely be bugs or skeptical questions (can certain functionalities really be easier to replace than their current iterations?), you have to get it in your hands to at least have a chance to try, develop, and improve what we can do with technology going forward.

Move aside Nike Fuelband, Jawbone Up or whatever fitness tracking device that tells me how many calories I’ve burned. How about telling me how many calories I’ve consumed? That’s where Vessyl, a new device that can tell you exactly what you’re drinking, steps in.

Look, North America needs to get with the f’in program and make it safer for cyclists on the road. But the fact is that biking has picked up as much clout here as say, driving a Ferrari. Maybe this Smart Bike Concept by Samsung will change the tune.